Tag Archives: Smartphones

It's not often that you get a great deal on one of the most popular and highest rated accessories for one of the best and newest phones. But this week, the Survivor series, Griffin's leading carrying case for iPhone 5, is on super sale at Pure Mobile.

With an iPhone 5 accessory as high-rated and well-loved as this, it almost seems like an exercise in redundancy to go through a description. But for those who aren't already well acquainted with Griffin's star iPhone case, here goes:

Griffin proudly claims that the Survivor case is the most protective case they've ever built, which, for this company, is saying something. Unapologetically over-engineered, the Survivor for iPhone 5 is built to military specifications, "designed and tested to meet or exceed US Department of Defense Standard 810F."

Griffin Survivor Carrying Case for iPhone 5 in Black and Blue

With a multi-layer construction that combines shatter-proof polycarbonate with shock-absorbing silicone, the Survivor case has been tested to withstand rain, vibrations, blown sand and dust, and even a 6-foot drop onto concrete.

But this carrying case serves just as well for everyday life as it does in military-grade tests, and handy features, like a multi-position clip make it a practical and functional civilian favorite.

Griffin Survivor Case for iPhone 5 in Black and Green

And with a wide variety of colors to choose from (our sale includes models in basic black or grey, as well as color combos with red, blue, green and more), there's a stylish option for almost every taste.

And right now, we've got the Griffin Survivor for iPhone 5 priced around the $20 mark, which is probably just about the best deal you can get on an iPhone 5 accessory with this level of design and quality.

Among the rumors is one that the iPhone 5S will come in a range of colors

No doubt about it, Apple's huge. Even so, analysts say its been, well, less huge than usual in the past few months. But nevertheless, they're expecting great things from the iPhone maker in the coming year.

If Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White is to be believed, that's because Apple is already planning the launch of its next generation iPhone, the iPhone 5S. As cited by BGR, White explained that the release of the next iPhone is expected to make up for Apple's recent 25% stock drop and that the new device is partly responsible for the fact that "Apple is our top overall pick for 2013."

According to White, we can expect the next generation sooner rather than later, with a tentative launch date between May and June. There are also musings that "the next iPhone will have more choices for customers," which may entail "an expansion in both the color patterns and screen sizes." If that's true, says BGR, this would be "the first time Apple has released one phone with multiple display size options."

So what can we then expect from accessories for the newest iPhone? Maybe open-front clear cases that show off the iPhone 5S' bright new colors and fit the different screen options? That's just a guess, so we'll have to wait til summer, if the rumors are true, to really find out.

It's that, for so many, the draw of BlackBerry is its signature Qwerty keypad, something RIM has done away with in their upcoming all-touch device – or have they?

Actually, judging from a new hands-on video detailing the new BB10 touch keyboard, and according to Gizmodo, the "BlackBerry 10 touch screen keys could rival even its traditional keyboards."

For starters, RIM's made the transition from physical keyboards to all touch keys pretty seamless. As Blackberry's Head of Software Portfolio Vivek Bhardwaj explains in the demo video, the keypad of the new L-Series device has stayed true to the look of traditional BlackBerry keyboards, right down to the signature "frets." So it looks and feels like the blackBerry devices you're used to.

Where it does differ from the original is that the new touch keyboard is more intuitive and intelligent than its predecessor. It automatically separates words when you forget to hit the space bar, it understands context, learns your personal vocabulary, and knows when to switch between languages.

A couple of days ago, we posted a teaser image released by RIM of the upcoming BlackBerry 10 all-touch device on Pure Mobile's Canadian blog. At the time, it seemed exciting, the first real glimpse of the L-Series, not just some bogus leak. And it confirmed that images of the device leaked previously weren't really the real deal.

But what a difference two days make. Thanks to super detailed pictures and a lengthy video leaked by Vietnamese site Tinhte.ve, the RIM-sanctioned teaser pic of the L-Series now looks "lame" by comparison, to quote TechCrunch.

While the teaser pic had left us wanting more, the Tihnte.ve leak gave us pretty much a full showing of BlackBerry newest, and perhaps sexiest, smartphone. Of course, that's assuming the handset shown off in their 5-minute video and high-res pics is the final design, but we have very good reason to believe that's the case.

The device shown in the leak sports the same textured back as the the L-Series does in RIM's official teaser pic

First off, it's got the same mesh-textured backing we saw in the L-Series the teaser pic, and which was lacking from BlackBerry devices in previous leaks. Meanwhile, says TechCrunch, if it isn't the final design, it's at least "very recent," since the handset is equipped with "the recently-renamed BlackBerry World App."

So what's the scoop? We couldn't help but notice – and these feelings were confirmed by Gizmodo – that the device looks a heck of a lot like the iPhone 5 in some shots, though it's perhaps a little bit slimmer, proportionally. Though its rounded rectangular shape is also not unlike the BlackBerry London pics we started seeing over a year ago.

But it's also not far off from the BlackBerry Dev Alpha B smartphone handed out to developers last year, in that the placement of its front-facing camera, front speaker, microphone, and BlackBerry logo are more or less the same. With the removable back panel off, it reveals an 1,800 mAh battery, and microUSB, micro-HDMI, and microSD slots.

Opinions on BlackBerry's latest and greatest, though perhaps premature, are certainly abundant, ranging from ravingly enthusiastic to underwhelmed. "This is going to blow the iPhone out of the water," "Go home Blackberry, you're drunk and dead in the water, it's an Android and iOS world now," are just a sampling of the responses found in the comments for the Tinhte video.

For our part, we're waiting to get more details on the real guts of the device, and to see how it works with the new BB10 OS when BlackBerry officially unveils it on January 30. But in the meantime, we're giving it the benefit of the doubt and hoping it'll be the best smartphone BlackBerry's made in years, or at least good enough to pull RIM out of its recent troubles.

Despite what the rumor mill would have you believe, the unveiling of the Galaxy S IV is not imminent. A couple of days ago, we reported that Samsung had released a teaser video, telling us to "get ready" because "the world awaits [...] something new" January 8 to 11, 2013.

Those are of course the dates for the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a huge annual event for the consumer electronics industry, where, in the past, big players in mobile have unveiled new devices and accessories.

Needless to say, Samsung's promise of new and exciting developments started a whole whack load of speculation as to whether or not we might see the smartphone maker unveil a successor to the Galaxy S III – the Galaxy S IV.

Aside from the fact that the teaser video cited the dates of a major event where smartphone makers, including Samsung, have traditionally introduced their new hardware, we actually know that the company is preparing a new handset.

If you own a smartphone but live in an American city that's not all that populous, it can get a little frustrating.

Even if you've got the latest in LTE-capable devices, like the iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S III, your carrier may not even have an LTE network that covers your area yet. But patience pays off, as Sprint subscribers in over 11 small and medium-sized U.S> cities and counties are about to find out.

The carrier announced yesterday that it's expanding its 4G LTE service in a few new U.S. cities, listed below:

As 9 to 5 Mac notes, "the term 'cities' is a little stretched in this instance as each population is either near or well below the 50,000 mark," but we actually see that as a positive. Just because a smartphone owner doesn't live in a metropolis doesn't mean they're not interested in LTE.

And the fact that Sprint carries LTE-capable phones from the likes of Samsung, LG and HTC won't mean much to a possible subscriber whose area doesn't get LTE service.

In fact, writes 9 to 5 Mac, "Sprint offers the iPhone but does not carry the 4G LTE iPad partly due to its thin LTE spread, although it has steadily tried to thicken 4G LTE data coverage in recent months."

But the carrier has been trying to address that. Aside from the 11 newly added cities, Sprint expanded their LTE network this past fall to 100 U.S. cities. Meanwhile, as they continue to brng LTE to new markets, Sprint promises "3G customers in these areas, [...] can expect to see better coverage, improved network reliability and voice quality once the improvements come to their areas."

First off, apologies for the blurriness of the above photo. But hey, with leaks about upcoming and yet-to-be-revealed technology, we'll take what we can get.

What you're looking at here may just be the Qwerty keypad for the BlackBerry 10 N-Series Qwerty/touch device. The image leaked from Chinese tech site iiBerry, and was picked up by CrackBerry and Mobile Syrup both. And despite its really poor quality, it's actually the best shot we've seen yet of (a part of) BlackBerry's newest Qwerty device.

So what can we take away from the shot? Well, the keypad does certainly have that signature BlackBerry look, though, as CrackBerry points out, the curved chrome frets of the BlackBerry Bold line have been replaced with straight ones.

RIM has already announced that they'll be officially unveiling their new devices – which include the N-Series Qwerty/touch device as well as an L-Series all-touch phone – January 30. So we'll only be able to confirm then what the new BB10 Qwerty phone will look like.

In the meantime, we wait and pray that some third-party BlackBerry accessories manufacturer lets another pic of the new BB10 devices leak out.

On our Canadian blog, we've been speculating for months now about the launch date of BlackBerry's new BB10 operating system, and most of all, about the two new BlackBerry devices that go along with it.

But the countdown has now officially begun! BlackBerry maker RIM recently that they'll be holding their BB10 launch event January 30, 2013. What's more, they'll be doing it simultaneously in different countries.

But perhaps more so than the OS itself, what many of us have really been waiting for is the hardware. The two new devices have been much-leaked over the past months, and have since been confirmed as a BlackBerry Curve-like Qwerty/touch phone and an all-touch device that will be the first of its kind for RIM.

RIM will be unveiling its new BB10 smartphones January 30, a Qwerty/touch phone and an all-touch device

So here's the really exciting part: not only will the January 30 event mark BB10's official launch, it'll also act as the unveiling for the two new BlackBerry handsets where the press release promises "details of the smartphones and their availability will be announced."

"Personally," writes Mobile Syrup, "‘not too long’ sounds like we could see them hit our carriers by February, but that’s purely speculation."

In any case, such a date, if accurate, would not only be squarely within the first quarter timeframe that RIM previously gave for the launch of BB10 and release of the new BlackBerry smartphones but would actually be ahead of the March date some analysts had projected.

Samsung's latest "phablet," the Galaxy Note II, is currently only available in Titanium Grey and Marble White

We get it. Smartphones are kind of like cars when it comes to color. Most people aren't going to rush out and get a hot pink or chartreuse model when they can stick with a basic hue like black or silver. And accordingly, smartphone makers tend to play it safe with new devices, usually releasing them in a pretty sober spectrum.

But, just like cars, sometimes we want our cellphones to be a little more distinct and it seems Samsung gets that. The company launched a new line of nature-inspired colors for their Galaxy S III phone back in August, and SamMobile reported today that they'll be doing the same with their latest "phablet," the Galaxy Note II. At the moment the device is only available in Titanium Grey and Marble White.

So far, the Galaxy Note II's new color variants are just a rumor. SamMobile cites an "insider" who says the new device will start rolling out in new hues like Amber Brown, Topaz Blue and Ruby Wine as early as this December or the beginning of 2013.

And while we've already seen the color Samsung calls Amber Brown in their newest Galaxy S III models, the other rumored color names don't match up to anything we've seen from Samsung yet.

In any case, if you've been thinking about getting a Galaxy Note II but haven't done so yet, it might be worthwhile to wait until after the holidays, unless of course you're into basic black and minimalist white.

Amid the slew of smartphones being released right in time for the holiday shopping season, Google's new LG-made Nexus 4 is winning the popularity contest.

Within hours of going on sale on the U.K.'s Google Play store on Monday, the latest nexus smartphone sold out. Same story in Australia, except that the successor to Google's Nexus 7 Tablet, the Samsung-made nexus 10, was also listed as "out of stock" before the day's end.

Meanwhile, BGR reported that in the U.S., it took only minutes before all available units of both the 8GB and 16GB models of the Nexus 4 sold out on Google Play. And before long, 32GB models of the Nexus 10 were out of stock, with only 10 units of the 16GB model remaining.

To use the old adage, tehy're selling like hotcakes. But it's not hard to see why.

Starting at $299 for the unlocked Nexus 4, the pricing is pretty competitive compared to other smartphones, especially considering its specs: Snapdragon S4 quad-core processor, 4.7-inch True HD IPS screen with a resolution of 1280×768 resolution, and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean to boot.

However, it doesn't have LTE – if it did, people would probably be killing each other for it at that price – but TechCrunch is right in saying that it's essentially "a high-end 3G device for a mid-range price."

Likewise, there's no reason that demand for the Nexus 10 Tablet should cool down anytime soon. Starting at $399.99, it's greatest draw is its super-sized 10.1" 330PPI display, one of the biggest tablet screens out there.